John B. Kralovec

A thirty-two year old high school teacher was rendered quadriplegic when the bed of a tractor-trailer dump truck disengaged from the truck and landed on Plaintiff’s van. The verdict is the highest Illinois compensatory verdict for personal injury (non-death).

Estate of Jaclyn O'Hara, deceased minor v Nursefinders Inc.
A home care nurse left a 12-year-old quadriplegic child with cerebral palsy, spastic quadriplegia, incontinence, cortical blindness and scoliosis unattended in a tub of water at her south suburban home, causing her to drown. The verdict is an Illinois high for death of a child and is also a record high for death of a severely disabled individual.

Danuta Eriksen, Special Administrator of the Estate of Bozena Bajaj v. Kenneth Moore, M.D.
Plaintiff sought neurological treatment from Defendant doctor for headache. Defendant misdiagnosed Plaintiff's condition as migraine headache. After three years of treatment, Plaintiff entered hospital with severe headache, and six hours later Plaintiff died of brain herniation. Subsequent CT scan showed hydrocephalus.

Thomas Bullaro, Individually and as Independent Administrator of the Estate of Carol Ann Bullaro, Deceased v. Daniel Pacella, D.O., and Daniel Pacella, D.O., P. C., an Illinois Corporation
Plaintiff was diagnosed with diverticulitis and underwent surgery. During the procedure, Defendant doctor failed to perform a Hartmann's colostomy after identifying an abscess in the colon, rectum and vagina leading to septic shock and the death of a fifty year old wife and mother of one.

Roger Stillwell v Dr. Theodore A. Fox, and Lakeview Orthopedics
Ex-Chicago Bear defensive end awarded the first verdict by an NFL football player against a team physician for allowing a player to play after it was clear that he should have retired. Plaintiff received several corticosteroid injections to the knee and surrounding area to keep him playing causing him to suffer from severe arthritis requiring the use of a cane to walk, and had six knee surgeries.

A thirty-eight year old car-man for Soo Line was injured when his loading machine was rear-ended by a co-worker. Plaintiff developed an asymptomatic hydromyelia in his spinal cord. This was the largest verdict for this injury in Cook County.

Death of a forty-five year old wife and mother of two. A Type 1 diabetic was brought by paramedics to the emergency room with an extremely elevated glucose level. Plaintiff contended the emergency room nurses failed to properly triage the patient as "urgent" and failed to properly monitor her physical condition with advance warning alarms. As a result, Plaintiff suffered a cardiopulmonary arrest in the emergency room due to undiagnosed and untreated diabetic ketoacidosis.

Plaintiff was working on a sound barrier wall on I-294 when a salt truck lost a wheel and struck him. As a result, he suffered multiple leg and pelvic fractures.

A twenty-two year old single female was killed when the “bed” of a tractor-trailer dump truck hit an overpass, was ripped from the trailer, and landed on top of a van in which she was a passenger. She sustained numerous injuries including a C1-C2 separation and subarachnoid hemorrhage, which combined to take her life 9 hours post-crash.

A married mother of one was struck and killed by a commuter train while attempting to cross the tracks. Plaintiff was a pedestrian at the time, and the defense contended that the train was clearly visible. Appellate Opinion created new law regarding post-accident changes and expert testimony in presence of eye witnesses. Record verdict at that time for loss of a wife and mother.

A four year old boy was attending a backyard swimming pool party at the home of his mother’s employer. The child suffered a near drowning in the presence of thirty adults.

Plaintiff was assisting a co-worker in unloading angle iron steel from a barge. When Plaintiff attempted to climb down from the stack of steel he was standing on, the dunnage (wood) supporting the steel cracked, causing a 5000 pound bundle of steel to fall on Plaintiff's legs. The cause of the accident was Defendant’s improper stacking of the steel bundles creating a hazardous and dangerous condition. Plaintiff’s injuries led to an above-the-knee amputation of left leg.

Plaintiff was killed when he stepped back into an elevator hoistway door. The elevator door collapsed and he fell seven stories into the elevator shaft.

Plaintiff, a bricklayer, was killed when an inadequately braced wall collapsed, crushing decedent during construction of the off track betting parlor.

Plaintiff experienced a recurrence of a malignant gastrointestinal stromal tumor which had previously been diagnosed. Plaintiff went to Defendant for a liver biopsy and resection. Plaintiff suffered post-operative bleeding which was not recognized or diagnosed and therefore not treated, resulting in his death (survived by wife, two adult children and one minor child).

Plaintiff was admitted to a rehabilitation facility following spinal cord decompression surgery. The patient was receiving post-operative antibiotics, including Gentamicin. Defendants failed to properly monitor Plaintiff's Gentamicin levels causing him to develop severe ototoxicicity.

Pretrial settlement of a pending case for a paraplegic whose spinal abscess went undiagnosed and untreated for several days.

Plaintiff sustained ruptured spleen, fractured ribs and clavicle. Plaintiff’s 8 month old son suffered traumatic brain injury with severe developmental regression, gross and fine motor impairments, hypertonia, multiple skull and rib fractures from multiple-vehicle accident.

This case involved an automobile accident with a truck and was a record breaking settlement in Grundy County, Illinois